Such a lovely, heartfelt memoir in Brooks’ always exceptional writing style. A read alike to Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. Excellent book!

This is an extraordinary book. To write about something as overwhelming, boundless, and ongoing as grief at the sudden death of a much-loved partner and do it in a way that is both concise and resonant is remarkable. Novelist and former foreign correspondent Geraldine Brooks tells the story of her loss and her recovery (as much as recovery is possible) from the death of her husband Tony in alternating chapters. The lacerating details of being notified without comfort, the bureaucratic struggles that follow, her self-imposed exile to a scenic island in her native Australia, where in communion with nature she finally addresses fully the desolation she feels---all this and more is brilliantly told. Brava.

On May 27, 2019, author Geraldine Brooks received a phone call from Washington DC at her family's home on Martha's Vineyard. A harried and impatient medical professional informed her that her husband, author Tony Horwitz, had been found unresponsive on the sidewalk and declared DOA at the hospital.

Now, three years later, Brooks has traveled to a remote island off the coast of Australia to take care of an important task she has left undone - grieving the death of her true love and the life they imagined for each other and themselves.

This incredibly tender and moving book is as much a celebration of a life well lived as it is an exploration of the grief and the often inhumane consequences of losing a partner unexpectedly.

I spent much of this book near tears as Brooks recounts the days, weeks, and years of learning to live a life she never expected. Poignant, practical and vulnerable, this memoir stands with Dideon's The Year of Magical Thinking as one of the best remebrances of loss I've ever read.

I was given an advance reader copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Geraldine Brooks writing is superb. She is both intricate and direct in her writing. Her heartfelt memoir was very moving and melodiously constructed.

Well written memoir by a fine writer. A sad loss of a husband. It would be nice to have the means to go off to an island to mourn. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I have read and loved Geraldine Brooks's books and have long considered her my favorite author. Her newest book was different; it was personal. Brook's life changed suddenly when her husband of thirty-five years died suddenly on Washington D.C. Street. She thoughtfully shared with us the wisdom she gained through her experience of Tony Horwitz's death and her journey to grieve him properly.

Brooks’ writing is stellar. I loved the way she told the story, alternating between two timelines. First, she tells us the story of Tony’s death, starting with that fateful day when she received that horrendous phone call that none of us ever want to receive.  Her call came on Memorial Day 2019.

Secondly, she shared her journey three years later to a shack on Flinders Island in West Tisbury, Australia.  This is where she began her own Memorial Day journey.  A journey where she desired to “…do the unfinished work of grieving.”  She said, "I haven't honored Tony enough because I have not permitted myself the time and space for a grief deep enough to reflect our love." It’s a place where she finally doesn’t have to pretend that everything is okay. I was captivated by this concept. What a fabulous tribute to a lost loved one.

I also related to her advice of capturing in a document everything you and your partner will need to know to keep the household afloat if something happens to either of you.  Brooks puts her heart and soul into this book, and I am sure many will find it as touching and informative as I did.  Love it!

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horowitz met in college and formed a formidable team until Tony suddenly dropped dead in 1999 just as his book tour promotion was launching. He was one of my favorite nonfiction authors and I had just finished read his recent release, Spying on the South, a delightful book. The loss of her partner was devastating and it took years to finally write this memoir.

When Brooks suddenly lost her partner of more than three decades, author Tony Horwitz (his book Confederates in the Attic is one of my favorite nonfiction titles), the demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf. Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. This beautiful book toggles between the days following his death and her time in Australia. It is such a moving story about love, loss and pain, reflection, and how life isn’t always fair. For fans of books about grief and those who enjoy epic love stories.

This is a kind of a memoir-the author's husband died unexpectedly just as she was having a book published. She was far away from him at the time and their sons were also far away, so it was a complicated on a variety of levels. Trying to communicate with the healthcare professionals who tried to save him, trying to get his body released, trying to connect with their sons so that they would hear about their dad's death from her and not the internet, trying to settle the estate and deal with all the things her husband dealt with on a regular basis plus promote her new book. At a certain point, she decided to deal with her grief, and this book is part of that dealing. It's beautifully written, incredibly intimate, and sometimes hard to read. It's a roadmap of how she is coming to terms with the staggering loss of her husband and I so appreciated being taken along for the ride.

I have not read any of this author's previous works, but I am a fan of memoirs and it sounded intriguing. It alternated between the day of her husband's death (and the days and weeks following it), and the time she spent on a remote Australian island a few years later processing it. I was more captivated by the chapters set right after he passed away, but it was a short and easy read and she's a fantastic writer.

Geraldine Brooks book, Memorial Days, is about her grieving the sudden loss of her husband, Tony Horwitz. She and her husband were so intertwined with both having similar careers. In this book, in alternating chapters, first when her husband dies and 3 years later when she goes to Flinders Island Tasmania to finally be able to grieve. It’s a short book and certainly would be a help or guide to others losing a spouse. She says “to take control of this moment in the narrative of your life.”

A composed and clear-eyed look at grief and the ways modern American culture does not deal with it or allow an individual to deal with it. As Brooks found, many of our systems and bureaucracies actively make grieving worse and more traumatic.

I would recommend this to everyone, particularly the simple directives at the end, urging everyone to keep track of all the things they do for their households, that their loved ones will be forced to pick up in the wake of their loss.

Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this beautiful book of Geraldine Brooks’ experiences in mourning the sudden and unexpected loss of her love, writer Tony Horwitz. To allow herself time to grieve, she goes to a remote place, Flinders Island off the coast of Tasmania, to immerse herself in her reflections and memories of their rich life together and rediscover her husband. Geraldine has long been one of my favorite fiction writers from her first book, and this one is no exception. I have so much respect and admiration for her. (It gives me some insight into a troubling aspect to a plot point in Horse, completed after his death. I am also interested in reading Tony's work.)

Beautifully written, this is Geraldine Brooks’ heartbreaking memoir of the sudden death of her husband Tony and her journey navigating the nightmare of grief as she comes to terms with life without him and how she gives herself the time and grace to start healing. Highly recommended.

I'll admit that my primary interest in this book was borne by my absolute adoration of Tony Horwitz's books. He's the author's late husband and the subject of this memoir. Horwitz passed unexpectedly in 2019 at the age of 60. Brooks chronicles her experiences with the insult of paperwork and protocol after the death of a loved one and alternates them with the time she spent on a remote Tasmanian island, allowing herself to grieve finally.
While being forced to deal with cold receptions from burned-out hospital staff and the aftermath of sorting out finances, having her credit cards and insurance canceled, and more indignities, Brooks has kept her grief locked inside. She must be present for her children and Horwitz's family to manage what needs to be managed. After several years, she knows she can't continue with this grief buried deep. She retreats to a remote shack on an Australian island to allow herself the peace, time, and solitude to reflect and allow the grief to come.

As a Pulitzer winner, I did not doubt Brooks' prose would be well-written. But I was blown away by the vulnerability she offered. Shares the depth of her love for Horwitz, the pain and the shock of his death, and the frustration of her obstacles to grieving. That she invited the reader into her resulting grieving process is a gift, and she related it so well, although this whole memoir was bound to cause her pain by reliving the entire experience.
It was a bonus gift for me to learn more about Horwitz, one of my favorite authors. This book is a sure bet for anyone grieving a loss or stuck in the cycle of doing instead of feeling.

Beautifully written memoir which should help others with the grief process. Made me feel I was living the experiences with her & couldn't put it down. 5 stars!

A very fascinating story told by the author about her life after her husband died. It tells how she felt she had to be alone, and how she handled that. She gives the reader descriptions that makes one feel her sorrow and loss. It also takes us through her torment in figuring out how to deal with it all. Very moving.

Memorial Days is a beautifully written memoir by Geraldine Brooks. Written after the unexpected death of her husband, the writer Tony Horwitz, this slim volume is very moving and powerful.

When Geraldine Brooks' husband, Tony Horwitz, died suddenly, her whole life was thrown into disarray. This is her memoir -- what happened to her over the course of the next 2 years. In chapters that alternate between the narrative of the aftermath of Tony's death and Geraldine's experiences on a small Tasmanian island as she tries to deal with her grief.

I almost quit reading this when I realized fully what the book was about. Dealing with the sudden death of a spouse is a difficult read, especially for someone who has been happily married for a long time. I'm so glad I kept reading. Yes, this is a story about grief and sorrow and there are some painful passages, but the story is also about resilience and hope. I love Brooks' writing. She captures human emotion well, and her descriptions of the physical world are detailed and engaging. I was pulled completely into the story. I appreciated the way she alternates the difficult chapters about Tony's death with those of her life in Martha's Vineyard with Tony and those days on the island. She explores the stages of grief and learns how other cultures deal with death and grief. I learned so much and her musing inspired me to make some preparations...just in case. This is a lovely book and worth reading. If you love Brooks' fiction, you will love this book. It has all the heart and beauty of her novels.

Grief and mourning seem to be such taboo subjects in American culture along with honoring our elders. I connected deeply with Geraldine Brooks’ experience as my dad died suddenly at age 64. I still miss his powerful presence and wisdom. It was years before we brought him up in family gatherings. Brooks’ experience is unique to her, however, it paves a way forward for those of us who need and want time and space to grieve. Thank you Ms. Brooks for sharing your experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.